XBOX FACES ACTIVISION CHALLENGE:UNREAL ENGINE 5.1’s INSANE GRAPHICS UPDATE & MORE

Here to talk about all the video game news

that has been going on this week.

As you can tell,

a little bit more of like
a sketchier looking video,

’cause I’m actually on location

at the Game Awards this week.

So yes, hostage video look,

but there’s a lot of other gaming news

to talk about, so let’s
just jump right in.

The first is a story we wanna highlight,

specifically around video game graphics.

It’s something we cover
every once in a while here.

The tech is getting pretty impressive,

specifically with Unreal Engine 5.1.

This is the current
state of Unreal Engine,

and although it’s a couple of weeks old,

it’s gained a lot of
prominence and notoriety

for being featured with
the newest Fortnite update.

Now, I know we don’t talk Fortnite,

not really our game here,
we don’t cover it too much,

but Fortnite has gotten a visual overhaul

and people are noticing.

And some of the tech behind

Unreal Engine 5.1 specifically,
is really game changing.

We’re gonna like a bunch
of really cool stuff

that people have been using to show off,

just more incredible, smarter
people than any of us here.

But definitely wanna link

this breakdown video by Unreal Sensei.

It does a really good job explaining

some of the stuff with 5.1
that is a game changer,

specifically with how foliage works.

And essentially how Unreal Engine 5.1

takes advantage of nanite and lumen,

and applies them to even more
things in the game worlds.

And again, full disclosure,
just layman explanation,

but how level of detail works in games

is totally overhauled here.

And it seems like what it does is,

renders video game foliage way,

way more efficiently and realistically

without really killing the
game’s power and performance.

If anything,

some developers have shown that

they’ve gotten better results after this.

And showing it in an example
here with Unreal Sensei,

trees further in the
distance are no longer

cardboard cutouts of trees,
they’re actual legit,

fully lit and rendered trees

thanks to nanite being enabled

on all these individual trees.

This is something where
we always talk about

high level graphic stuff,

but this is something that can

actually be implemented
fairly easily by developers,

and seems like something
we might actually see

in more games soon.

The foliage stuff is also really cool

because it changes how light is rendered

on grass and leaves,
and stuff on the ground,

where it’s way more realistic.

Where shadows underneath plants

aren’t always necessarily
hard, dark shadows.

They’re more light

because the light is passing
through these leaves,

and the game engine can
do that fairly easily,

which is sick.

We have other foliage examples

via RealityX Light, that
are really impressive.

So, absolutely check those out.

But more people are doing cool stuff

like Milky_Skyline on Reddit,

who is kind of messing
around with it in VR,

and even though the video’s shaky,

you can just see how much of
a difference it really makes.

Unreal Engine 5 is still very impressive,

and we’re still really only
just seeing the beginning of it,

but 5.1, these little things,

we thought they were just kind of cool

to talk about and share.

Now, I know we gotta talk
about the Game Awards.

There’s a lot to talk about with that.

We’ll have a separate
dedicated video for that,

and I’ll cover all that
stuff later in this video.

But the other big thing,
the bomb that dropped today,

actually, yesterday before recording this,

is the Microsoft acquisition
stuff is heating up.

We’ve talked over and over.

The story is just continuously developing.

All these regulators across
the world have been really

digging into Microsoft’s whole acquisition

of Activision Blizzard.

And they’ve been facing some questions,

some tough questions by regulators,

and now it seems officially,

we talked about it a week or so ago.

It seemed like it was likely, but yep.

FTC or the Federal Trade
Commission is suing

to block Microsoft’s acquisition
of Activision Blizzard.

There you have it.

One of their heads said, and I quote,

“Microsoft has already shown that it can,

and will withhold content
from its gaming rivals.

Today we seek to stop Microsoft

from gaining control over a
leading independent game studio

and using it to harm competition

in multiple dynamic and fast
growing gaming markets.”

This is where I fall short,

and I think a lot of
content creators fall short.

People love to start the
console war stuff on Twitter,

but I am not smart enough to know

a lot of what this stuff means,

but other analysts that
I respect and follow

do seem like the deal isn’t necessarily

shut down immediately after this.

Some people have kind of claimed this

to be a kind of kicking
the tires type of thing,

because of specifically
the way they did it.

I will link a bunch of sources

worth reading up on this in
the description of course,

because it’s important
to read up on that stuff

before just popping off about it.

But it’s a rapidly developing thing,

and like with Xbox and
Microsoft coming out hot

just like a week or so ago, not even,

to come and say, “Hey,

we’re allowing Call of Duty on Switch,

and all these other platforms.”

They’re trying to look the best

and the most competition
friendly they can.

But at the end of the day,

this is a 70 billion acquisition.

It’s one of the biggest ones.

So it’s gonna have holes poked in it

up until the very end if it goes through.

The European Trade Commission
has come down on it.

Some countries have, it’s yet to pass,

it has to go through a lot of countries.

So, we’re gonna have
to see where this goes.

We’ll keep you guys updated,

but this comes along with Microsoft

also announcing this week
that their first party games

that they will sell for
retail for Xbox Series X,

will go up to $70 next year,

putting them neck and neck
with PlayStation’s prices.

And I’m using US prices, but yeah.

So Xbox, what’s going on?

Let’s talk about this
stuff down in the comments.

This whole acquisition thing.

Are you smart enough to
know what’s going on?

Do you think it’s going down?

Let’s talk.

Next up,

couple of cool things I wanted to link

in the description down below.

The first is,

reviews are dropping for
Final Fantasy Crisis Core.

We don’t have a video up yet,

but definitely worth checking out.

The reviews seem to be very happy with it.

And as a Final Fantasy fan,

I am looking forward to this.

Also, this was kind of like
a before Game Awards thing,

but Vampire Survivors is
out on iOS and Android.

It seems like it’s like a free version.

I haven’t played it yet to see

what the mobile trappings
are, if there are any.

But, Vampire Survivors is
a really cool little indie,

awesome addictive game, that
really is perfect for a phone.

As you guys probably know
on my channel and on here,

we’ve talked about
Vampire Survivors a lot.

So, now it’s free on a phone,

so as long as it doesn’t
have any mobile game crap

you’re free to check it out I guess.

Also Elden Ring got a PVP update,

for those of you who are
itching to jump back in.

We haven’t gotten any
DLC announcements yet,

but we did get kind of
this little PVP add-on.

The Coliseum is now open, so
there’s that mystery solved.

Also, speaking of game updates,

another thing that I thought

was significant and worth highlighting,

is that God of War got a patch,

a big update that had some
bug fixes and improvements,

but most importantly,
the photo mode is in.

This game really needed it
on launch, it wasn’t there.

But now it’s here,

so you can have Kratos
stick his tongue out

while he fights a bear or whatever.

Go nuts, have fun.

Info and all that stuff,

and more of course will be linked

in the description down below.

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Now, it’s time to talk
about the Game Awards.

Let’s get a quick little wrap up.

As you guys know,

we are putting out a standalone video

breaking down some of the new

game announcements specifically,

but just wanted to rattle off a couple

of things here that we
thought were very interesting.

So Andrew, for you
editing this, I apologize,

I’m gonna rattle off a bunch of stuff,

but let’s start off with a bang.

The fact that we’re
getting a Hellboy game,

like a proper Hellboy game.

It’s called, Hellboy Web of Wyrd,

and I am about the magnola art style here.

We also got a new look
at Street Fighter 6,

with new characters,

And we know Street Fighter 6

is coming June 2nd, of 2023.

We also got a hot, spicy look at Tekken 8,

like some full on crazy
gameplay, and it looks wild.

Hades 2 is also a thing.

I expected that studio to make

something new and creative once again,

’cause they’ve done that with Pyre

and a million other things.

But they decided to do a sequel,

so it’s very cool to see because
Hades is extremely tight.

We also gotta look at Ghost
Story Games, first Game.

This is the new studio
headed up by Ken Levine.

They have been spending tons of money

and tons of years coming
up with something,

and now we know it is this,

it’s called, Judas.

This seems very much like

a spiritual successor to a Bioshock thing.

I actually expected them

to do something totally different,

but what we got here still does look

inventive and fun, and exciting.

Also hot off the heels of Bayonetta 3,

we’re getting another Bayonetta game.

It’s called Bayonetta Origins:
Cereza and the Lost Demon.

This is like a top down kind
of artsy indie adventure.

It’s like a prequel story.

And that’s coming in March.

We got another very cool,

very flashy, Destiny 2: Lightfall,

game play trailer.

Shout out to My Destiny heads.

I have no idea what is going on here.

Is this even the same game?

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,

we got another like story trailer thing,

and also a really heartfelt,

nice little nod to Kevin Conroy.

We kind of assumed that the Batman Arkham,

or the Batman Arkham Bruce Wayne

was gonna be in this game in some form,

’cause it’s Rocksteady,
and it’s the same universe.

But it was nice that we got

a little glimpse of that in here,

and Kevin Conroy’s voice one last time.

There’s a demo out
right now for Forspoken.

If you’re looking for something to play,

that’s out specifically on PlayStation 5.

Also the people behind
Celeste are making a new game.

It’s called Earthblade, in 2024.

It looks pretty dope,

and the logo is very cool

and very evocative of some classic games.

Death Stranding 2 is officially a thing,

right now just dubbed, DS 2.

We got a look at Troy Baker’s villains

seemingly returning once again,

Lea Seydoux, Norman Reedus,

but he’s like all garlated up now.

Some really cool robots.

That robot at the end was
basically a Metal Gear.

I’m here for that, whatever.

What’s gonna happen with this game?

Who knows?

Information on that is still slight.

But we also got a new look

at like a cool Diablo 4
cinematic trailer thing.

We know that is now officially
coming June 6th, 2023.

Also Horizon Forbidden West is
already getting an expansion.

It’s called the Burning Shores,

and this is kind of like
a California adventure.

We got to see the Hollywood sign

in like a broken Los
Angeles, but some really,

really big machines, which is dope.

Also, that is coming April 19th, 2023.

A Transformer’s Bumblebee

first person shooter type thing

is coming from Splash Damage,
which I did not expect.

Also, a new Remnant game,

just called, Remnant 2.

The new,

The Lords of the Fallen got
a good gameplay trailer,

heavily edited but still very cool to see.

Don’t Nod is making a seemingly badass

kind of like action adventure
RPG, with like ghost hunting.

We only got a very brief
glimpse of gameplay.

Mostly a fast flashy trailer,

but it still seems kind of cool.

It’s called, Banishers:
Ghosts of New Eden.

And Crash Team Rumble,

it’s gonna be a multiplayer co-op

Crash Bandicoot game, it’s coming in 2023.

There’s been rumors for a long time

about something like this,
and it’s nice to see.

More Crash, I think at
this point is always a win,

’cause Crash 4 was really
underrated, and awesome.

Crime Boss: Rockay City
is coming March 28th,

and this is like a nineties
open world crime simulator game.

It’s looks to me like a nineties

first person Grand Theft
Auto, action shooter thing.

I don’t know, with a crazy cast,

like Michael Madsen,
Chuck Norris, Danny Trejo.

It’s a lot, but frankly,

I still need to see more of this game.

Is it gonna be like a GTA
clone in first person?

I’m in for that.

Remember when we used to
have GTA clones every day?

Let’s get those again.

We also got a gameplay trailer

for the new Warhammer: Space Marine 2.

I’m not the biggest Warhammer guy,

but I do like Space Marine shit,

and I like the previous game,

and this is looking really cool.

We know that is coming in 2023.

Also, we got a brief look
at the new Cyberpunk DLC.

We’ve known this is coming,

this Phantom Liberty DLC expansion,

once again with Keanu
as Johnny Silverhand.

But also it seems like
you’re gonna be playing

as a new character, and that
character is Idris Elba.

That’s pretty cool.

We got a good long look

at Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,

March 17th, 2023, that is coming.

You guys know I’m biased,

as a Star Wars fan, this looks insane.

It looks like exactly what I wanted,

and I have so many questions,

but I’m gonna be on that shit day one.

Also, The Last of Us is
finally coming to PC.

The Last of Us part one,

the more recent re-release, remake,

remaster type thing is coming to PC

on March 3rd, 2023.

But last, but certainly not least,

the rumors from months back were true.

We’re getting a new Armored Core game.

This is Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon,

and it is From Software
returning to their roots,

and making a damn robot game,

Modern From Software

and their art direction and their design

is clearly on full display here

with a really incredible
cinematic trailer.

I’m sure here at Gameranx,

we’re gonna keep talking about this game

and we’re gonna have to keep reusing

this damn trailer over and over again,

like we had to do the
first Elden Ring trailer.

But it seems like

we’re not gonna have to
wait too long for this game,

because it seems like
it was slated for 2023.

So, that’s pretty cool.

From Software game, but with robots.

Sounds like what a lot of people want.

And if you’ve never played Armored Core,

there are certainly a bunch of new fans

coming to that franchise after this.

Of course, I didn’t have
time to highlight everything,

so keep your eyes peeled
for other Gameranx stuff

where we break down Game Awards stuff.

But, that’s some of the highlights.

Some stuff I thought was cool,

some stuff that we thought was cool here.

So we’ll link as much

of that as we can down into description.

But I definitely wanna hear from you guys

in the comments what you
think about the Game Awards.

The awards, everybody likes to argue,

God of War this, Elden Ring that,

I’m talking about the announcements.

Were you satisfied with the announcements?

Because I thought we got

a pretty good, decent amount this year.

I think there’s a lot of
stuff to look forward to.

I’m biased because I just

eat, drink, and sleep video games,

but there’s a lot on
here that I like to see.

If you got like a top five

of your favorite things announced,

whether it’s stuff added to current games

or completely new games announced,

or just an update on and upcoming game,

definitely let me know how you’re feeling.

There’s a lot to talk about.

So, let’s do it down there.

There will also, of course,

be a pinned comment at the top

asking what you’re playing this weekend.

It’s for our research.

So, drop what you’re playing
if you have a minute,

we would very much appreciate that.

But, let’s talk this Game Awards stuff.

If you wanna yell at me directly,

if you got anything else
you wanna chat to me about,

find me on Twitter and
Instagram @JakeBaldino.

my other YouTube channel at Jakebaldino,

and the Friends Per Second Podcast.

But, that’s it for right now.

I’m gonna get back to work,

some secret stuff behind
the scenes, but that’s it.

So thank you guys very much for watching,

getting caught up on the news.

We’re here every Friday.

Have a great and safe weekend.

We’ll see you next time.

Pizza’s on me.